About two years ago, Marlys Harper discovered a latent desire to write about her varied life experiences. She envisioned stand-alone stories that her grandchildren might enjoy in the future. As she fleshed out skeleton memories, long locked away, a memoir began to take shape. In June 2024, she self-published her first book.

Her childhood was spent in La Habra, California. In Southern California during the 1950s, new tracks of “cracker box” houses began to intrude into orange groves to produce more affordable housing. Her family’s house, which cost $11,000, was surrounded by groves which she and her siblings considered an extension of their backyard. It was a time when four households shared a telephone party line and most families, even large ones like hers, were sustained by a single wage earner, the father.

She attended Pepperdine College, then in South Central Los Angeles, but left after two years due to the lack of a motivating goal and the oppressive expenses of a private school. Working at Marie Calendar’s while researching more affordable colleges, she happened on an announcement at Cal State Fullerton for a summer immersion program in Guatemala City. The two summers she spent living with a local family there were pivotal; she increased her fluency in Spanish and broadened her opportunities and perspectives.

Her employers at Marie Calendar’s encouraged her to apply to be a stewardess. After two airlines non-selected her, she was hired by Pan American Airlines in 1970. Pan Am, which flew only international routes, required a stewardess to be fluent in at least two languages, English being one. Knowing enough Spanish worked in her favor. The fact that Pan Am had ordered a fleet of 25 747s and was to debut its first passenger flight in January of 1970 increased her chances of hire. Each 747 required at least 16 stewardesses, up from seven on most previous planes. Marlys promoted to purser after a year and a half.

After an unexpected ending of her career with Pan Am, she lived in Acapulco, México for four years. Twists and turns of life and her bilingualism brought various employment opportunities, including in food production, public education, and public health. She and her husband are now retired, living in Green Valley, Arizona.